OUR VIEW: Arming school officials

Published: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 5:42 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 5:42 p.m.

It was difficult for parents across the U.S. to watch their children leave for school or take them there Monday — the day funerals began for victims of Friday’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Not surprisingly, there was an increased police presence around area schools. Some parents found that reassuring. Others sadly questioned what has happened to this country, and its people, for such measures to be necessary.

We share that sense of lost innocence (kids exposed to such things, in the news or personally, are being introduced to adult concerns way too soon).

We also accept that no matter how hard people try, from whatever angle, to be proactive, the responses to these nightmarish incidents invariably will be reactive.

Security cameras, door buzzer systems and resource officers are the norm on today’s school campuses. We’re sure even stronger safety protocols soon will be in place.

Should they include allowing administrators, teachers and other school personnel who are licensed to carry concealed firearms to bring those weapons on campus, or having firearms on hand at schools for such situations?

That argument is being made, loudly, by those who think it could have saved 26 lives at Sandy Hook. Legislatures in six states plan to consider such measures next year.

A Texas congressman, speaking of the school’s principal (one of gunman Adam Lanza’s victims), said: “I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.”

Maybe that’s how it would’ve played out. Maybe a teacher packing a personal pistol could’ve drawn it and stopped Lanza.

Maybe not.

This presupposes that everyone licensed to carry a weapon doesn’t just know how to use it, but has had sufficient training to know how to use it under pressure — to know how to use it, and shoot straight, while surrounded by madness that is happening so fast one has no time to think, only to react on instinct.

It presupposes that everyone licensed to carry a weapon can, on demand, turn into John Rambo, Dirty Harry and John McClane, combined. That’s unrealistic.

Opponents fear a situation where a suicidal or homicidal student might take a gun away from a teacher. We’re more concerned about whether a teacher, even in a “him/her or me” situation, could point a gun at a student and pull the trigger, while looking that student in the eye, without hesitating.

We think having a weapon available at schools for emergency situations and training staff members to use it, even if some view that as distasteful and disillusioning, can be justified. Throwing things wide-open and letting everybody with a license pack weapons can’t be.

It’s not a gun control issue. It’s a “reviving 1880s Dodge City, Kan., isn’t going to solve this problem” issue.

<p>It was difficult for parents across the U.S. to watch their children leave for school or take them there Monday — the day funerals began for victims of Friday's shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.</p><p>Not surprisingly, there was an increased police presence around area schools. Some parents found that reassuring. Others sadly questioned what has happened to this country, and its people, for such measures to be necessary.</p><p>We share that sense of lost innocence (kids exposed to such things, in the news or personally, are being introduced to adult concerns way too soon).</p><p>We also accept that no matter how hard people try, from whatever angle, to be proactive, the responses to these nightmarish incidents invariably will be reactive.</p><p>Security cameras, door buzzer systems and resource officers are the norm on today's school campuses. We're sure even stronger safety protocols soon will be in place.</p><p>Should they include allowing administrators, teachers and other school personnel who are licensed to carry concealed firearms to bring those weapons on campus, or having firearms on hand at schools for such situations?</p><p>That argument is being made, loudly, by those who think it could have saved 26 lives at Sandy Hook. Legislatures in six states plan to consider such measures next year.</p><p>A Texas congressman, speaking of the school's principal (one of gunman Adam Lanza's victims), said: “I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn't have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands, but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.”</p><p>Maybe that's how it would've played out. Maybe a teacher packing a personal pistol could've drawn it and stopped Lanza.</p><p>Maybe not.</p><p>This presupposes that everyone licensed to carry a weapon doesn't just know how to use it, but has had sufficient training to know how to use it under pressure — to know how to use it, and shoot straight, while surrounded by madness that is happening so fast one has no time to think, only to react on instinct.</p><p>It presupposes that everyone licensed to carry a weapon can, on demand, turn into John Rambo, Dirty Harry and John McClane, combined. That's unrealistic.</p><p>Opponents fear a situation where a suicidal or homicidal student might take a gun away from a teacher. We're more concerned about whether a teacher, even in a “him/her or me” situation, could point a gun at a student and pull the trigger, while looking that student in the eye, without hesitating.</p><p>We think having a weapon available at schools for emergency situations and training staff members to use it, even if some view that as distasteful and disillusioning, can be justified. Throwing things wide-open and letting everybody with a license pack weapons can't be.</p><p>It's not a gun control issue. It's a “reviving 1880s Dodge City, Kan., isn't going to solve this problem” issue.</p>